Once-controversial Scandals closes after eviction; nightclub for sale

After a short stint on South 11th Street, Scandals nightclub has apparently closed its doors.

Don Waldron, the owner of the Springfield building that housed Scandals most recently, said the tenants weren’t making payments and he had to give them an eviction notice about three months ago.

The building at 1031 S. 11th St. has a sign that says “for sale or lease,” but Waldron said he would like to sell it because he’s retired and lives in South Carolina.

The city council will soon consider an ordinance rescinding the liquor license for Scandals because of the recent closure, Mayor Mike Houston said.

A line of red leather bar stools still lined the bar Friday, and a marker board still listed “Saturday Specials,” but little else remained inside.

The operators of Scandals, Aaron Hurley and Michael Stoker, could not be reached for comment. Waldron said he’d heard they had left the area but wasn’t sure.

Granting the liquor license for Scandals at the 11th Street location was an issue before the city council last summer, and it was approved by a 7-1 vote. Ward 2 Ald. Gail Simpson, who represents the area, cast the lone vote against granting the liquor license.

Simpson said at the time that she voted that way because she didn’t think her ward needed another liquor-peddling establishment. Simpson said Friday that she was disappointed the council voted the way it did on the liquor license, but she declined to comment on the closure.

“It is what it is,” she said.

The co-owners of Scandals and some Springfield aldermen raised concerns last year about a restriction Houston imposed on the 1 a.m. liquor license for Scandals, which called for one of the owners to sign a letter from the mayor’s office stating that he would not request a 3 a.m. license from the city at any point in the future.

Scandals was previously downtown before moving to 11th Street. When the owners applied for a liquor license at the 11th Street location, they told aldermen they planned to offer entertainment options such as dinner theater and comedy nights.